32 comments:

Wow, you are brave (and clever with your camera!). I would be fearful of getting people enraged and even if I tried I would probably capture only blurry portions of the sidewalk or of some other insignificant detail (especially when shooting from the hip ;))! Fortunately, you are great at catching these fresh glimpses of everyday life for us.

Thank you for revealing your secret strategies...If I ever find myself in Paris (or NY), I'll keep any eye out for you! ;)Meanwhile, keep up the excellent work!

Your sketches are great! I've wondered now and then about angry responses you might receive. I for one would be thrilled to find myself in a terrific blog post ~ now that's a question...I wonder what the odds would be of that coincidence happening to anyone.

I love this post..the humor..the candid shots..You are so good at this!

And I LOVE that you are never mean in showing people..One thing I find sad is when bloggers take photos..of people and criticize them..it's ok to laugh and have little jokes..but some of the comments I have read on blogs..well have made me turn it off:)Just too nasty.I hope they never see themselves in less than attractive situations:)Love your post.

LOVE this post….! Depictions of the ever chic French, pitch perfect humor that as a would-be photographer-of-this-subject I get completely,and your great capturing of the diversity in chicness. Merci! Greetings also to beloved Bear!

One of my teachers in art school said if you can do a portrait of the the back of someone's head, then you're really cookin." I feel I am a Voyeur when drawing in public, and do not like people to know I am drawing them. But those who find out are usually flattered.Sounds like the French are particularly "testy."

I don;t understand how you ever manage to get a decent shot with your shoot form the hip - blindly- technique! Do you remember cameras in the old days with the view finder on the top? the photographer would look down onto the top to see what his lense was capturing. This would be perfect for you....just a casual glance at your hip, and then look away while you click the shutter! Of course, it wouldn't be digital and the aperture and time would not be automatic. Quelle domage.

Hilarious technique!!! I think I'll try it but the problem is I have a bulky SLR and most of the time, people get wary of it even if I do ask permission to shoot in a cafe or shop!! Love the kids' photos!

Well the first "typical French couple" looks nothing like French to me ^^ ( or at least not "typically French). When I saw their attire it screams "tourists" to me ( I show it to some of my friends and they were more or less all thinking the same). But I could be wrong!The fact of taking pictures of people and then putting them on the Internet and analysing them make me feel awkward for some reason. I guess most of the people would not care, but personally I would feel slightly violated.Anyway, it's interesing to see Paris through the eyes of a foreigner. Sometimes it feels we are not living in the same city, it's quite cute and amusing. Keep going!A French girl

PSIf the French will insist on eating cupcakes, hamburgers and choc chip cookies obsessively, is it any surprise they are starting to look like tourists?Let's hope they don't blow up like balloons(like Americains) and lift off...

Chere anonymous,They were yacking away in French tres rapidment. I see quite well-dressed French tourists on AirFrance coming from NYC loaded with American silly T-shirts and Yankee hats. Qui sait pourquoi?We do the same thing for sure.Eiffel this and Eiffel that. My sister, who knows better, brought me an Eiffel tower to stamp into my toast! Why? I threw it away instantly.c'est la vieI am an extra-terestial in ParisI try to catch the mondaine..c'est tout.